NW Indiana Girls Basketball Renegade Poll: Week 9

2003-2004 Girls Basketball

'Renegade' Poll: Week 9

A USA-365.com Special Report

(1-15-2004)

The big deal this week is the Indiana-Illinois challenge games at the Chicagoland Classic in Willowbrook, Ill. East Chicago faces the biggest challenge facing Fremd high (12-6) of Palatine after a Friday night preview against top-ranked 4A Hamilton Southeastern (14-0). These are the types of games the DAC teams cannot play now that they have 14 league games. The Porter County Conference tournament draw has some evenly matched quarterfinal games but the bracket hints of a third confrontation between arch-rivals Boone Grove and Hebron.

1. Gary West Side (12-1)

In the fourth of the major confrontations between the four area superpowers (Merrillville, EC, Valpo and West Side) West Side's defensive pressure limited EC's Dee Dee Jernigan (16.7 pg.) to just seven points in a 52-46 come-from-behind triumph. 5-11 soph Erica Simpson scored 14 in 75-48 win over Horace Mann while Isabella Rhenwick has averaged 12.6 ppg in her last five starts. The downside is that the Cougars don't really have any more elite-level games. They play St. Joseph's (6-6) on Jan. 24 and host McCutcheon on Feb. 6. Why Gary West Side does not play Crown Point or Valparaiso is something I do not know.

2. Valparaiso (13-1)

Valpo ran their win streak to 10 games a 44-39 win over 4A No. 8 Merrillville and a 45-17 win over Michigan City. 6-3 junior Cassie Kerns (13.1 ppg.) scored 17 against Merrillville's formidable front line and 6-0 senior Breanne Gustke recorded a career-high 21 points against Michigan City. Oddly, Valpo now appears stronger with the 6-0 senior Gustke than they were with the 6-2 junior Lindsay Humes, who is out for the year. Kerns, at 6-3, has become more of a face the basket shooter, using her mobility. Valpo has six games left, five against teams they have already defeated. Mental toughness gets tested now because all five will be looking to even the score.

3. East Chicago (11-2)

East Chicago bounced back from the loss to Gary West Side with a 48-44 OT victory over St. Joseph's in South Bend. EC continues to be crippled by free throws. The Cardinal girls were 5-of-10 against West Side and 5-of-13 against St. Joseph's. That's just not good enough. EC is adjusting to the return to 5-10 senior Jernita Moore. Sophomore scoring leaders Kelly Watts are getting less shots. Very tough weekend on the independent schedule including a premier home game Friday night with Class 4A No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern and all-state guard Ashley McGee.

4. MERRILLVILLE (12-2)

The Pirates didn't play well in the loss to Valparaiso, but they came back Tuesday (Jan. 15) to beat Munster. The Pirates have lost only to EC (11-2) and Valpo (13-1) so they are hardly struggling. Remember, the 15-game rule. A team with new players, inexperienced players or simply players who are unfamiliar with each other needs about 15 games to get it together. The Pirates are not at that point yet. 13 of 26 against Munster in a 54-13 win is scary. Merrillville still has Crown Point (9-6), Lowell (10-5) and Chesterton (11-4) left on the schedule. Still plenty of fun left.

5. Chesterton (12-4)

The Trojans won 37-27 at Crown Point and 39-31 in three overtimes at Highland but let's be honest. None of those three teams are not scoring anywhere near enough points to excel in the upcoming state tournament and they are all experienced enough to know that fact. Center Stephanie Boyle (12.6) and 5-10 forward Kelly Pellar (9.8) and guards Catherine (Cat) Campbell and Holly Melton are not scoring enough but they are not alone. Every time you see Chesterton, they play well defensively. But the Trojans really only have seven players and the record is good, but it's all about beating Valparaiso and Merrillville.

6. CROWN POINT (9-6)

Crown Point lost to two teams they should have beaten last week, falling 46-33 to Portage and 37-27 to Chesterton. That is only the fourth time that Portage has ever beaten Crown Point. Obviously the Lady Bulldogs have severe offensive problems. They have been held under 35 points four times this season and that should not ever happen. Forwards Blayre Reeves, Jill Weiand and Hannah Plumley must find a way to give CP 10 points and 6-8 rebounds a game. If they can't, it'll be a one-game playoff run. Maybe it can happen Friday (Jan. 16) against rival Lake Central.

7. LAKE CENTRAL (8-6)

LC rolled over Michigan City 54-18 and easily coasted by LaPorte 40-19, but they get back to competitive opponents when they travel to Crown Point Friday (Jan. 16). Again, though, just 40 points against LaPorte is no where near good enough. LC did sink 12 of 13 from the line but good defense is neutralized when the prime time players cannot score. LC has six games left and Lowell (10-5), Merrillville (12-2) and Valpo (13-1) are big late tests.

8. Highland (14-4)

They have not played the schedule of the top eight teams and that showed in a 39-31 loss to Chesterton, which has a poorer overall record. Highland has been held to less than 40 points for three consecutive games. Jody Shimanek is 74 of 95 (77.8%) at the line and her 11 helped edge Andrean 36-35. The Trojans were 18 of 30 at the foul line in two games and that percentage has to rise because they neither score nor allow many field goals. The Trojans played without forward Ashley Sampson in the Chesterton game, but 10 field goals in four quarters and three overtimes is not nearly enough. They need a week off and they get it after a visit to Hobart Friday (Jan. 16) night. Highland could draw EC next week in the state tournament draw and they end the season at EC on Feb. 6.

9. Wheeler (14-3)

The Bearcats have to be careful not to coast through the final two weeks because the draw could match them with Boone Grove (13-2) in the opening game of the sectional. Wheeler's 39-28 win over Bishop Noll (6-8) was done with 20 of 30 from the foul line. Maggie Schultz added 13 rebounds. There is word that junior Alison Roper (12.9) has a knee injury and that would be crippling to Wheeler, which is not that athletic anyway. Sisters Becca (15.2) and Alyse Bruszewski (10.8) give them a chance to win that first-ever sectional but it's going to be close and upcoming games with Westville (Jan. 27) and Whiting (Jan.24) won't help much. Wheeler has won 30 of their last 40 games.

10. ANDREAN (5-9)

As of Feb.6, the records don't matter. The 59ers beat sectional rival Morton 53-32 and then lost 36-35 to Highland, a team that beat them 57-24 in December. The difference in those two games in ominous to the four Gary schools (Lew Wallace, Mann, Roosevelt and Wirt) who join Andrean and KV in 3A Sectional 18. Yes, they have serious foul shooting problems. Just 33 of 61 (54.0 %) in their last 3 games. The Niners haven't been over 50 points against a winning team all season but, one more time, Andrean has lost to Luers (13-1), West Side (12-1), Highland (14-4) twice, Penn (9-5) and Lowell (10-5), Hobart (7-7) and St. Joseph's (6-6). During the regular season, it's not about who you beat, it's about who you play.

What's going on????....

Boone Grove (13-2)

It's not so much the losses to Wheeler (13-3) and Crown Point (9-6), its the way their pressure defense doesn't shake up the opposition anymore. They need the upcoming PCC tournament to get some extra juice and start intimidating people again. This is a problem that was predictable after last season's 22-5 run. It's a lot harder being a target and that's something that the largely all-junior Wolves are not used to. Teams are staying awake nights designing defenses for lead guard Karissa Walter (16.7 ppg.) and improving freshman Cortney Flanigan (8.8) is going to have to become a double figure scorer. Sophomore 5-10 forward Kara Kessler, just up from the JV, can catch and score which is all you have to do with Walter passing the ball. Karissa had 12 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds in Monday night's 61-55 win over North Newton (6-7) and 5-10 junior Danielle Jacobs scored a career-high 15 points. But Wheeler and North Newton were not bothered by Boone's defense. That latter is not a big issue. The former is the only thing that matters. Boone has to beware of PCC tourney quarterfinal foe Hanover Central (6-8), a team on the rise that they could face three times in the next four weeks.

Outside the area.......

3A No. 2 Tippecanoe Valley (15-1)

Tippecanoe Valley, a/k/a "Tippy Valley' or just 'TV,' is a 650-kid Kosciusko County consolidation 20 miles southwest of Warsaw that has won 38 of their last 41 games and are two-time defending sectional champions. They are (or were) led by 5-10 guard Rebekah Parker, who averged 19 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.4 steals after 15 games. The season is in jeapordy because Parker, who has committed to accept a scholarship to Division I Evansville University, suffered a knee injury last week and had minor knee surgery. The South Bend Tribune says she hopes to only miss three weeks which would put her back in uniform by the start of the state tournament.

5-3 Abby Schafer (11.0 ppg.) leads the attack and 5-9 junior Kara Kramer scored 18 in TV's only loss, a 54-52 loss to 4A No. 9 Carroll (15-0). Holly Jackson, a 5-9 junior guard and Caty Jackson a 6-0 center, have had a few solid scoring games and they better have a few more now. Tippy Valley will lose a couple without Parker and the door is now open for Peru, Whitko, Norwell or Fort Wayne schools Elmhurst and Wayne at the Elmhurst Sectional. In the new 2004 realignment, Tippecanoe Valley heads south for the new Peru 3A Regional and Parker MUST be back in the lineup by them. Second-ranked Bishop Luers (13-1) a four-time state champion, and No. 8 Angola (13-1) are almost certain to be at the Peru Regional. There are no ranked 3A teams in any of the sectionals feeding the Plymouth Regional, so it is not far-fetched to imagine that Griffith, Calumet, Hammond or Andrean could be playing TV at the 3A Plymouth Semistate on Feb.21.

Coming Up......

CHICAGOLAND CLASSIC at Willowbrook, IL
Jan. 16 (F) Kokomo (13-1) vs. Fenwick (16-2), 8:00 pm
Jan. 16 (F) Warsaw (16-1) vs. Neuqua Valley (13-4), 9:30 pm
Jan. 17 (S) Niles (Ill.) North (12-6) vs. Kokomo (13-1), 10:30 am
Jan. 17 (S) New Trier (12-3) vs. Warsaw (15-1), 12:00 pm
Jan. 17 (S) Hamilton Southeastern (14-0) vs. Loyola Academy (20-0), 6:30 pm
Jan. 17 (S) Heritage Christian (11-3) vs. St. Ignatius (Ill.), 6:00 pm
Jan. 19 (Tu) Fenwick (16-2) vs. Heritage Christian (11-3), 2:30 pm
Jan. 19 (Tu) East Chicago (11-2) vs. (Palatine, Ill.) Fremd (12-5), 2:30 pm

2004 Porter County Conference (PCC) Tournament

(at Morgan Township high school)
Jan. 19 (M) HEBRON (5-8) vs. Washington Township (7-6) 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 19 (M) Kouts (7-7) vs. South Central (7-6)
Jan. 20 (Tu) Morgan Township (3-11) vs. LaCrosse (2-12) 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 20 (Tu) BOONE GROVE (13-2) vs. HANOVER CENTRAL (6-8)
Jan. 23 (F) HEBRON or WT vs. Kouts or SC - 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 23 (F) Morgan or LaCrosse vs. BOONE or HC
Jan. 24 (S) PCC Championship - 6 p.m.